How to Get Started

Going raw or “more raw” is easy when you know how, and I’m about to show you exactly how.

Step 1: Breakfast

Whether you buy into the philosophy that breakfast is the most important meal of the day or not, as far as food choices are concerned, what you eat first in your day will absolutely set the tone for what follows during the rest of the day.

So, when it comes to going raw, I recommend that you begin your day with a totally raw breakfast or as close to it as you can get.

Raw breakfast ideas to get you started:

Fresh fruit (as much as you want of one type or a combination of fruits as desired)

Fresh fruit smoothie

Fruit juice

Green juice

Vegetable juice

Green smoothie

Almond milk (or other nut milk)

Banana milk

Sesame milk (or other seed milk)

Raw muesli with nut milk

Dried fruit compote with almond milk

Fresh fruit salad with or without nut/seed milk

As you can see, your choices are many and varied, and all of these basic recipes can be very easily adapted to suit your appetite and palate.

Step 2: Lunch

If you are aiming for 50% raw, then after breakfast it’s pretty straightforward, you just make sure that at least half of your plate or glass is made up of raw ingredients. If you’re aiming for 75% raw then you make it three-quarters. No weighing and measuring necessary, just do this by eye.

The easiest way to do this by far (and it’s exactly the same for your evening meal) is to make sure that half (or whatever your % is) of your plate comprises of fruit, salad or raw veggies. This way you get the high-water content foods which help digest the cooked foods with their all-important enzymes, and you have the choice of which cooked foods to eat.

When it comes to those cooked foods, as always, I recommend that for maximum benefit and results you go for the clean and “healthy” cooked foods that won’t take away too much from the benefits you’re gaining from the raw part.
Examples of “healthier” cooked foods that can complement your raw foods:

Again, this is far from rocket science! Even if you work from your desk or car it is super-easy to pack a lunchbox with everything you need inside of it and enjoy a delicious, healthy and really satisfying lunch.

Step 3: Evening Meal

For most people the evening meal is usually eaten at home. If this isn’t you, then simply switch my suggestions here with those I gave for lunch. This can still be easy.

Working on the premise that you are preparing and eating at home of an evening, as for lunch, you still want to work to the general % rules to reach your targets but you probably have a lot more flexibility with your choices. As such you can either have a more elaborate cooked or raw component to your meal because you have the equipment you need right there, but this doesn’t have to be the case, it just broadens your options.

50%-75% raw evening meal ideas to get you started:

Any of the lunch options

Stir-fry with raw veggies added very last minute

Veggie burger/sausages with large fresh salad

Kale salad with chopped potato salad

Pizza with raw toppings

Steamed veggies with raw curry sauce

Roasted veggies with green salad and hummous

Vine wraps with green salad and hummous

Cooked bean salad

Step 4: Refine and Upgrade Drinks, Snacks and Treats

It’s all too easy to think that any eating or drinking outside of the “three square meals” doesn’t really count, but of course it does! It all adds up and is very much part of the total picture. Does this mean you have to give up coffee and live on water? Not at all, but it will definitely pay you to keep your mind and taste buds open to other ways of doing this habitual extracurricular consumption!

Focusing on these other choices generally tends to come after a few weeks or months, so is not necessarily something to rush into. However, if you are ready to explore other drinks, snacks and sweet treats, then you’ll find plenty of delicious recipes for these (and every meal of the day) all over the internet on web sites such as http://www.goneraw.com/. This particular web site features over 5000 raw food recipes that will get you off to a flying start and that you will want to make for the rest of your life.

As part of your healthy eating upgrade plan, I recommend that for the next few days or weeks, you also become aware of what you are eating and drinking outside of regular meal times and pay attention to what is driving that choice.

Are you drinking coffee because you lack energy, for example? (Raw food can and will take care of this, but caffeine is a drug so you’ll need to approach it as such.)

Are you reaching for the chocolate bar because you think you deserve a treat? (I’m sure you do, but what may be a treat for your taste buds may not be such a great treat for your cells! Why not go for the win-win, it’s yours for the taking.)
Are you eating dessert every night because you think that constitutes “a proper meal”? (Your body loves it when you keep things simple; desserts don’t need to be off the menu but they do need to have a slot of their own).

As you gain awareness around these habits and behaviours you will learn a lot about yourself.

At all times have compassion, patience and know that when you are ready to upgrade there is a world of healthy and delicious alternatives waiting for you. Some of these we have discussed already, many can be found in your local health food shop or raw food online store or at your nearest raw food café or restaurant.

These simple guidelines are your passport lifestyle packed full of health, nutrition, life-force and absolute deliciousness!
Ready to try a whole day on raw?